The puzzling death of Dr. Helen Garay Sanchez, a 32-year-old woman found naked inside a Florida Dollar Tree walk-in freezer on Sunday, remains unsolved — and family members say they are baffled.
“The thing is that even the family has a lot of questions,” Sanchez’s cousin, Daniela Cortez, told The Post. “We don’t know how this happened either.
“And we’re not getting any answers.”
Sanchez, an anesthesiologist and mother of two from Nicaragua, had been in Miami since Dec. 4, visiting relatives, the Miami Herald reported.
Her son and daughter remained at home.
She was last seen on camera footage, on the evening of Dec. 13, walking into the freezer of a Dollar Tree store at 968 SW 8th St. in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood just before closing time at 10 p.m., Miami police said.
The next morning, at 8 a.m., police responded to the Dollar Tree after an employee reported a dead body inside the store.
“Female was located inside the freezer/cooler inside the store,” said Miami police.
The police dispatcher told officers on the way to the scene, the person was nude.
Police reported finding no signs of foul play, and the situation is currently being investigated as an undetermined or “unclassified death.” Police are also awaiting the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s report.
Stefany Pereira, who sponsored a GoFundMe page to cover the costs of repatriation, transportation and funeral services in Nicaragua, wrote: “Dr. Garay dedicated her life to medicine, earning recognition as an anesthesiologist specializing in congenital heart disease whose work brought hope and healing to countless children and their families. Her compassion, skill, and commitment to saving young lives defined both her career and her character.”
Donations have poured in, totaling $18,382, as of Friday.
“We are aware of this tragic incident, and our thoughts are with the individual’s family and loved ones,” A spokesman from Dollar Tree said in a statement, according to local Miami news station WSVN. “We are cooperating fully with authorities at this time.”
“I would never believe, in a Dollar Tree, you would find a dead body. I’m totally in shock,” a shopper told the news station.
The family has been left to wonder, like the public, whether the doctor was a victim of foul play or an unfathomable accident, such as mistakenly walking into the cooler and becoming trapped inside.
People who are freezing to death sometimes feel overheated and disrobe, a biological response called paradoxical undressing.
Until authorities unravel the bizarre circumstances, Sanchez’s family will be forced to endure an agonizing wait.
And take time to remember her for the unsung hero she was.
“She was a great woman,” said Cortez, “not only as a professional but also as a person.”
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